Lost in the Darkness
by corneroffandom
Summary: Austin Aries goes one step too far in his vendetta against Neville.


Payback. TJ Perkins has been looking forward to this night for awhile. It's the first PPV where he'll get an opportunity to really prove his worth to Neville, cement thier alliance to himself, to Neville, to the crowd, but most importantly to the rest of Cruiserweight division who seemed to have all but forgotten him since he lost the title himself all of those months ago. He's still fighting off the lingering effects of the cold that's been with him for about two weeks now, but he's determined to not let it get him down, stretching out in the halls while he listens to music over his earbuds to keep his energy high while he waits for Neville's match.

The volume of the song is loud, pounding through his ears, and it's the only reason he doesn't hear the footsteps behind him. He's about to stretch his legs out when he sees a shadow behind him but there's no time to respond- sharp pain stabs through his consciousness and then everything goes dark.

He wakes up with a gasp, floundering- just to find himself in even more darkness. His head is throbbing, but he can sense someone nearby and his body's desperate need to survive kicks in and before he's sure what he's doing, he's trying to fight, but then something hard impacts with the side of his face and sends him back down hard against tile flooring, stars imprinting themselves in his vision, leaving him struggling not to throw up right then and there. He tries to catch sight of something, anything, and for a minute he fears he's gone blind but then something shifts next to him and he exhales, realizing that no, the room is just _this_ dark. He wants to talk but he doesn't even know what to say, who this is... until they grip his jaw and force something dry and rough into his mouth, gagging him before taping it into place.

From there, everything is muffled. His attempts at speech are fully thwarted now, pathetic little mumblings that go nowhere past the thick fabric taped past his lips. He hears a laugh and recognizes it immediately- it's Austin Aries and he growls, hissing away when the light finally comes on and the man himself sneers down at him, looking unimpressed when TJ tries to kick at him. "You think you can really do anything to me down there?" He laughs, kneels down next to him and drags something closer.

TJ pales, realizing it's a long stretch of wire like what the camermen use to power their equipment, but this isn't for cameras... He can do nothing but lay there, vulnerable, and watch as Austin loops it tightly around his wrists, knotting the cord together with as little slack as possible. TJ groans, thrashes around as best as he can but then Austin grips his jaw and looks him deep in the eye. "You might want to stop moving around so much." As if to prove his point, he loops the remaining section of the wire around a tall storage shelf looming behind TJ. "If you move too much, this will fall and take everything with it and smush you. We wouldn't want that, now, would we?" He sarcastically pats TJ's face once he's done and smirks. "So you stay there like a good little boy, don't move too much, and I'll come get you at some point tonight. If I'm not too busy celebrating winning that beautiful purple belt." He stands and examines his bare waist. "Don't you think it'll look great right here?"

TJ grits his teeth against the bind as best as he can and shakes his head, disgusted when Austin cracks up laughing, choosing that moment to take his leave, shutting the light off before he slams the door behind him, leaving TJ alone in the dark, with nothing but muffled theme music roaring from a distance telling him where in the card the show is currently at.

-x

Neville is not thrilled. It's almost time for his title defense and he hasn't seen TJ since just before the event began. He exhales roughly and brushes his wet hair out of his eyes, glowering around at the scattered people, all of whom are ignoring him. Not that he _needs_ TJ to defeat Aries, he proved that at Wrestlemania, but dammit, he was giving the kid _one_ chance to prove he's something more than just some joke who was so distracted with video games that he'd crashed and burned barely a few weeks into his title reign. "One and done," he mumbles to himself. "You want to continue being a loser, TJ, then I'll leave you here with the rest." He grabs his title and goes out to the gorilla position to wait for the match currently going on to end when he spots Aries nearby, gleefully eating a banana with a smug little glint in his eye that grates at Neville. "What do you want?" he snaps, bypassing the wrestling standards of ignoring your opponent unless you're in the ring.

Aries' grin only grows at the anger in Neville's tone. "What's wrong, did your little sidekick leave you behind to play some Zelda or something?"

He pauses, eyes Austin. Something niggles in the back of his brain, a suspicion but he can't put his finger on it quite yet. "It doesn't matter, I'll beat you either way." He sneers back. "How's your eye doing by now, anyway?"

Aries' face darkens, some of the humor fading away. "It'd be unfortunate if something bad happened during this match," he says, then turning away from Neville and waiting for his cue.

Neville watches him go, the unease spreading throughout him. He has a feeling the something bad Aries was hinting about didn't have to do with the match before them, but then... then what? It weighs on him, he has his suspicions, but he can't properly dwell on it because there's his pyro, there's his music, and he has no time to think about anything else. Except that Aries keeps taunting him, even dabbing after getting a two count off of a Discus Fivearm, and this sends Neville's thoughts onto TJ's disappearance once more, how unlike him it is.

TJ's been almost annoying with how glued he's been to Neville's side since Neville had pushed him to better himself, when he had said that he was the only one with an iota of respect for TJ. And oddly enough, against his better judgment, he'd found himself almost enjoying spending time with TJ in kind. Sure, he's annoying and some of the games he plays makes Neville want to collect all of TJ's equipment and throw it off of the roof of the next hotel they stay in, but... he gets a bit lonely as well, here on top of the Cruiserweight division, staring down at them all. So to have someone who actually wants to spend time with him even when he's at his crankiest and most snarly, well, hell.

It comes in a rush and Neville feels sick at the discovery, something he should've known as soon as he realized just how long it'd been since he'd last seen TJ, but his mind was elsewhere, lost in preparation for this match. "What'd you do to TJ?!" he snarls, advancing on Aries with hatred in his eyes, leaving himself too wide open and taking another discus fivearm with so much momentum on either side that he almost flips twice from the impact, landing in a heap on the mat and dazed just long enough for Aries to scramble over and lock in the last chancery. Neville is so far away from ropes, so spitting angry over what he's just realized, how badly he's fallen into Aries' trap here. _With friendship comes vulnerability,_ he reminds himself, closing his eyes as the dawning horror of his impending loss washes over him. It's still dulled when he thinks of all the nasty, brutal things Aries could've possibly done to TJ.

Aries is such a dirty, low down kind of fighter, eager to do anything that it takes to win whatever the hell he wants, that Neville thinks he'd almost appreciate the man's style if all of this crap wasn't slung at _him._ At TJ. _TJ,_ he thinks, finally giving in to the spots circling in his vision as he's rid of more and more oxygen. He can't lay here and delay the inevitable, he has to find the damn kid, see what Aries has done to him. So he taps, an angry snap of his wrist against the mat until the referee calls it and forces Aries to free him. Immediately Neville rolls out of the ring, angrily scrubbing at his throat as he leaves the loss behind, his mind focusing on a new goal now.

-x

TJ can hear the shelf shifting behind him anytime he makes even the smallest movement. He would lay very still, yeah, sure, but where would it get him, really? His head hurts, his throat is dry, and he's pretty sure he's just heard Neville's theme music, the sound alone causing him to choke against the gag as his eyes well up with tears at the realization that he's really missing his chance to help the guy, or at least witness his clear victory against Aries. Not to mention how pissed Neville will be that TJ no-showed, because there's little chance Aries will slip enough to say what he's done, or that Neville will care when his title is on the line. TJ struggles to breathe as he inches even further, each small shift of his body sending the cords tighter against his wrists, slowly rubbing them raw. He grits his teeth against the burning pain and continues on, trying to reach the stack of boxes he'd seen briefly when Aries had had the light on, just a little ways beyond where his feet rest. If he can reach them, if he can kick them over, maybe it would make enough noise that someone would go investigate. If not, maybe it'll send the shelves behind him toppling over and he'll be lost under piles of paint cans and other unused supplies, and the rescue will be a little late but at least everyone will know what Aries did, Neville will know that TJ didn't purposely leave him.

He shudders and prepares to force his body over another inch when time seems to stop- Aries' music plays for a second time and TJ stares into the darkness, begging for it to be a DQ victory, countout, something- but no, there it is, far away and tinny but most definitely reality- _"And your new Cruiserweight Champion, Austin Aries!"_ TJ shivers and truly does cry then, full-body sobs that leaves him feeling even more pathetic and-

"TJ!" He's shocked out of his crying jag as quickly as if he's been slapped across the face, Neville's voice echoing through the halls, past the thin walls and to his straining ears. TJ immediately feels sick, thinking that Neville has come to finish the job that Aries started, but no, there's something in Neville's voice TJ's never heard before... concern? Worry? Frantic desperation? He shakes his head, certain that it's impossible, that he's hallucinating things, and sinks into the darkness, into memories that are monumentally more comforting than the predicament he finds himself in right now.

 _"I don't bloody understand how you can play these ridiculous games so often," Neville hisses, staring incredulously at TJ as he plays desperately, trying to defeat the final level in the latest slasher game that Neville hasn't bothered learning the name of yet._

 _TJ chuckles. Hits pause and thrusts the controller into Neville's hands. "Alright then, you play to the end. If you somehow succeed at defeating it, I will tell you something no one else in the WWE locker room knows."_

 _It's not the hardest thing Neville's ever done. For one thing, TJ's collected all items that anyone would possibly need to defeat any superboss in this system, and Neville had subconsciously figured out what keys activated which action for the character he's controlling. So, before TJ's amazed gaze, Neville succeeds on his first try, sends the boss to hell or wherever evil video game characters go and then hands over the controller so TJ can swipe through the rest of the dialogue concluding the game._

 _"How did you do that?" he sputters, Neville's laughter echoing through the hotel room._

 _"Wouldn't you like to know?" he sneers. "Now, this huge secret of yours..."_

 _"Oh yeah. Well, I guess a promise is a promise." TJ sighs, pauses the game once more and turns to see Neville's face. "So my name... TJ stands for something that no one knows about." He clears his throat, furrows his brow, and finally says, "Teddy James."_

 _Neville's jaw drops as he takes in what TJ is saying. "You mean your mother gave her son, someone who would grow up into_ some _attempt at being a man, the name_ TEDDY? _Not Theodore, or anything like that?" As TJ shakes his head, Neville rolls his eyes. "No wonder you were doomed from the beginning," he mumbles, ignoring the annoyed look on TJ's face as he reclaims the controller and cycles through the last few screens of the game. "I will_ never _ever call you that,_ " _he mumbles, the offended look on TJ's face only deepening._

 _And he had kept his word, no matter how many times TJ tried to get him to say it, or even trick him into saying it, Neville would ignore him, or brush past him, anything to avoid calling him by his real first name._

 _"_ TJ! Where the bloody hell are you?" His voice is closer now and TJ can't deny it anymore- he sounds worried, angry but perhaps not at TJ. The door next to the room he's at slams shut and TJ struggles to suck in more air, feeling dizzy at both the sharp pain in his wrists- he resumes scrambling forward, aware that it's too dark, that if Neville looks in, he won't see him in this part of the room, and his only hope is to kick over the boxes, alert him that way... but his wrists are already bloody, throbbing messes and he doesn't want to imagine how close the shelves are to tipping behind him. But the door is opening, and Neville is peering in, and TJ's right- the light from the hallway shines just away from him, not strong enough to illuminate the corner Aries had tied him up in. "TJ, dammit, answer me!" he hisses into the darkness but as this too goes unanswered, Neville slowly turns away, about to shut the door behind him when TJ thinks he can hear the rough scrape of the boxes against the toes of his sneakers. _Finally._

It takes everything in him to pull together the last of his energy and kick out, the pain in his wrists excruciating as the wires shred through even more of his skin when his body jerks forward, but it works, the boxes tip and crash against the floor, echoing in such a way that only makes TJ's headache worse. He wonders if the shelves are tipping in the dark, about to crash down on top of him, when the door slams back open, a light's on, and TJ's blinking against it as there's a rush of activity, Neville kneeling by him and cupping his face. "Holy shit, what's he done?" he demands, staring back in disgusted awe at TJ's wrists before turning his attention to the gag. "This is going to hurt," he warns, grabbing the tape and pulling it off in one, quick movement that makes TJ moan against the fabric still in his mouth, fighting not to writhe considering how clse the shelves have to be to give. Neville grips it with his thumb and forefinger, pulling the sock out and tossing it away with a look of disgust on his face.

TJ gasps and chokes down air, eyes wide and locked on Neville's face as he considers what to do with TJ"s wrists. His mouth is so dry that it's painful but he needs Neville's attention. " Do- don't..." He struggles until Neville looks back at him, eyes wide and intense. "Shelves will fall if- if..."

"I see that, you've come close to making that happen yourself, didn't you?" Just then Neville's hand brushes TJ's wrist and he cries out, trying to writhe away. "No, no, TJ, come on-" Neville pushes him back down, eyeing the shelves warily as they creak and groan at the sudden movement. "I'm sorry, I won't do that again."

"It... it's bad, isn't it?" he chokes out, fresh tears filling his eyes at the aftershocks of pain still stabbing down his fingers.

"You've lost some blood," Neville admits, his face dark with worry once more as he shifts quickly, returning to TJ's side. "Don't move, I'm going to get something to cut through the wire. I will be right back." His fingers leave a ghost of imprints against TJ's face as he cups his jaw once more, making sure he understands, before Neville's up and gone, out into the hallway.

TJ wonders how much leeway he has, craning his neck back as far as it can go until he gets a glimpse of thick red gleaming on the floor, and he pales, realizing that the puddle of blood is coming from him- his wrists. The damage that he's caused himself just to get this far, to gain Neville's attention. He starts to feel it too- the wooziness, the weakness from blood loss. _Did I hit a vein?_ he thinks, almost laughing at the ludicrous discovery. This is not how his day was uspposed to go at all. He holds on until Neville's back, his vision swimming and his body feeling like it's floating in a sea of nothingness. The size of the scissors in his hand makes TJ laugh again, delirious and weak, and for a brief moment he wonders who he took them from. Neville looks confused, then fearful, as he kneels next to TJ once more and touches his face. "You're warm," he forces out through a mouth still painfully dry from Aries' nasty sock. "I... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry you lost. I... failed..."

Neville's just opened his mouth to respond when the last strings that TJ's holding onto snap and he finds himself careening into darkness once more. The last thing he hears is Neville's voice. "TEDDY!"

Once TJ's limp and unresponsive, it only takes Neville a few desperate moments to slice through the cord. The scissors may be small in his hand, some set that he'd knicked from the sewing station, but they're sharp and soon TJ is free, the shelf unit no longer a factor of concern. TJ is a bit taller than Neville, but he's almost thirty pounds thinner too- maybe more since his cold-, so it's not that difficult for Neville to get his arms under him and hoist him up, adjusting his stance until he's certain that TJ is secure. "Alright," he mumbles, sucking in a deep breath and taking one step, then two. "Alright, TJ. Everything's going to be alright." It becomes something of a mantra as he marches through the halls to the trainer's office, trying to ignore the steady dripping of blood he can hear from TJ's wrists.

The trainer takes one look at TJ and it becomes all hands on deck, people pushing Neville away once TJ is settled securely on the nearest cot. He can barely see over the others, brushing his hands through his hair before realizing he's just smeared blood all over his face and scalp- TJ's blood, that is also staining his arms, hands and... He swallows, feeling close to throwing up. Unable to stay here any longer, he turns sharply and rushes out of the door. He doesn't stop until he finds the nearest shower, ignoring everyone and anything until he's under the scorching hot water, washing it all away as best as he can.

-x

Pain. Vibrating down his arms, through his back. Along his legs. Across his skull and into his neck and shoulders. TJ wakes up to a world of agony and moans, wanting desperately to fall back asleep, but immediately the trainer starts in on him, asking questions, getting the story from him. Neville had clearly left before explaining anything, and a flash of relief crosses the man's face when he realizes the true reason behind such deep cuts in TJ's wrists, setting aside recommendations for a therapist near where TJ lives. "So what's the verdict?" he chokes out, clearing his throat.

"We had to stitch your wrist up, which I'm sure you've noticed," the trainer begins, tapping his right wrist carefully. "This took the worst of the damage, so your other wrist will only need bandages for the next few days. Keep both injuries cleaned and dry, change the wrapping let's say twice a day, maybe more if it's still oozing a lot. Your responses are good, but since you took a couple of solid hits to the head, I'd like you to come back for more thorough IMPACT testing before Raw tomorrow." TJ nods, expecting this. "Beyond that, rest. Push fluids. You're going to be fine, TJ."

It's a relief but kind of bittersweet, because Neville hasn't even been mentioned since TJ woke up. He closes his eyes and digs his fingers into the sheets, feeling the vague tug of his stitches under his skin, holding everything together. Figures they're done now that Neville's lost the belt due to TJ's inability to handle himself, his weakness. He exhales, unsure what to do now. Once he's done recovering, once his wrist can hold up again... there's nothing for him. Neville will probably never want to see him again, and Aries has already proven he can defeat TJ whether it be in the ring or backstage, so TJ is at a bit of a crossroads here... and then something warm and familiar drops on top of his own hand, squeezing in a way that's somehow both impatient but gentle at the same time. Only one person could manage that so TJ wearily opens his eyes and stares up at Neville, taking in how his skin still glistens with water, his hair slicked back and freshly shampoo'd so desperately that TJ thinks he can see nail marks scraping down his scalp.

"What did the trainer say?"

"Guess I'm gonna live," TJ murmurs, glancing down when Neville squeezes his knuckles just a little tighter. "Trainer stitched my wrist and says he wants to test me for a concussion more tomorrow, just in case, but beyond that everything seems fine."

Neville closes his eyes on an exhale and sits down, nodding slowly. "Good, that's good, TJ." They sit quietly for a bit longer when, "When you're ready, I have a hotel room already booked, and-"

"I know you probably hate me for costing you yout title belt, so-" Both stop and stare at each other. "Wait, what?"

"I don't hate you," Neville says simply. "If Aries hadn't abducted you and done all of this..." He waves a hand at TJ's wrist, his head. "You would've been by my side, where you belong, and I would've won easily."

TJ nods, succeeding a bit better at forcing back his emotions right now. "You want me to stay with you? Really? Even with all of my video games and everything?"

Neville scoffs. "The shape your wrists are in, I highly doubt you'll be playing any of those things any time soon." He pauses. "Besides, someone needs to be nearby to change the dressings on your wrists."

TJ can't argue this. There's no way he'll be able to do it on his own, not with both of them wrapped... and the way everything hurts right now. "Alright," he murmurs. "Thanks, Neville."

"Now get ready to go, I'll let the trainer know," Neville says, standing up... just to pause and watch as TJ slips his feet over the side and stands hesitantly. "You got it?"

"Yeah," TJ breathes out. "I'm good." He proves it by taking a step, and then two, halfway past Neville before he turns to find the trainer, comforted in TJ's recovery already having begun. Once he has his things and the trainer has agreed to let TJ leave, the two men walk side by side to the exit, eager to put this night behind them. Brainstorm future ways to get everything Aries has taken from them this night back.

Neville has unlocked the car, watching as TJ drops his things into the backseat, when he pauses and stands up taller, looking at him over the side of the car. "Hey, Neville?"

"What?"

"I heard you call me Teddy earlier." He smirks proudly, as if he's won some huge contest and this is the best prize he could've asked for.

"Shut up, TJ."

"I guess I'll figure out a way to make you say it again when I'm not on the verge of passing out."

"Shut _up_ , TJ, or I'm leaving you here."

TJ chuckles, knowing that that's impossible, slamming the trunk door shut behind him and walking up to get into the car. "But seriously, Neville, thank you for coming to find me tonight. After everything that happened... well." He grabs the bottle of water and takes a long drink from it, grinning when Neville barely grunts, disliking all of this sort of talk but TJ reads between the lines and figures it's his way of saying _You're welcome, I'm glad you're ok,_ as they pull out onto the main roads and head for the hotel for some much needed rest and recovery.


End file.
